One Floor, Two Tenancies: The AsheMorgan Project at 1 Anzac Square

Late last year, AsheMorgan approached RAW with a brief that carried two distinct outcomes within a single scope: transform one half-floor plate on Level 7 of 1 Anzac Square into two separate tenancies, each capable of standing on its own in a competitive Brisbane CBD leasing market.

It is a more demanding proposition than it first appears. Dividing a floor is not simply a matter of positioning a wall. Each resulting space needs its own sense of arrival, its own working rhythm, and its own commercial rationale, without either one reading as the lesser half of the pair.

Both tenancies are now complete, and the outcome reflects the way we approach speculative fitouts more broadly.

Two Distinct Tenancies, One Shared Standard

The larger of the two tenancies was designed around scale. It is built for a business that needs its team to spread out: open-plan workstations, private offices, a formal boardroom, and a kitchen and breakout zone intended to function as a genuine hub of activity rather than an underused amenity. Walnut timber, bronze detailing, and layered lighting give the space a level of polish that reads as considered rather than simply corporate.

The smaller tenancy presented a different challenge. With half the floor area to work with, there was little room for an underperforming decision. A curved custom bench seat with an integrated bookshelf anchors the waiting area. The boardroom and breakout kitchen are scaled precisely to need, rather than oversized for effect. A softer, more residential palette of light oak and layered neutrals gives the space a sense of calm rather than compromise.

Placed side by side, the two tenancies do not read as complementary halves of a single fitout. They read as two distinct businesses already in occupation, which is the objective of a well-executed speculative fitout.

The Complexity Behind a Dual Tenancy Delivery

Delivering a single build is a matter of sound logistics. Delivering two, on the same floor, on the same timeline, for the same client, requires a more exacting level of coordination. Trades, deliveries, and site access all had to be sequenced so that progress on one tenancy never came at the expense of the other. Our designer, Henna, led the concept work across both spaces, while our site team, headed by Darren and Sam, maintained an equivalent pace and standard of finish across two markedly different builds.

The project is also a useful illustration of what makes a speculative fitout commercially successful. Success is not determined by how well a space photographs. It is determined by a clear understanding of what a prospective tenant requires to commit, delivered under a fixed-price contract and a construction program that holds firm regardless of the number of moving parts on site.

The Takeaway for Speculative Design

Good speculative design responds to the individual tenancy, regardless of its size. It would be reasonable to assume that a larger tenancy warrants the greater share of design attention, with the smaller space treated as secondary. This project demonstrated the opposite. Some of the most considered decisions on the floor were made in the more constrained space, precisely because there was no scope for a weaker one to go unnoticed. These were two distinct fitouts, each designed with its own identity, layout and target tenant in mind. Smaller tenancies can often appeal to a broader leasing market, while the larger tenancy successfully secured a tenant before practical completion. An excellent result for the landlord.

That is the substance of the 1 Anzac Square project: not two fitouts delivered in parallel, but two well-considered responses to the same brief, both completed on time, on budget, and ready to lease.

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